It seems we've come a long way since 1997, and listening to Mark Isherwood list the benefits of a living wage, wouldn't it have been great for him to have been around in the mid 1990s to try and persuade the Conservative Government to introduce a national minimum wage? They were dead set against it—absolutely, categorically, dead set against it. The national minimum wage, according to them, would destroy our economy. They've now changed their minds, and it's good that it's been the Labour Party that has created that change. But, having said that, the work of Government must continue, and that's why this motion is so worthy of support, and the fact that the real living wage is what we should be paying throughout Wales, as Helen Mary Jones has said.

I just wanted to draw attention to Educ8, the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, and Wales Co-operative Centre in my constituency, who are all accredited living wage employers, and Caerphilly council, who are not an accredited living wage employer, but pay the real living wage.

I'd also like to focus my comments on the Cabinet Secretary's policy for the foundational economy and the economic action plan, and particularly the work that that the Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change in Manchester—CRESC—has done. They've highlighted the fact that, if you have a focus on the foundational economy, it will also focus on low-wage, low-tech employment, and that is particularly the problem in northern Valleys communities and many of the communities in the northern part of the constituency that I represent. It is a particular problem, and that is partly because the environment is dominated by small firms and, particularly, micro firms. That's not to say that all micro firms are low-wage employers, but they do have a tendency—there is a bigger proportion that has a tendency—to that direction. We often talk about human resource practices in small micro firms as 'bleak house' in that it's not the paradise that you might think; you don't get the freedom that you might think, working in a small firm.

But I do want to draw the Chamber's attention to the Federation of Small Businesses's report that was produced and launched today, 'A Skilful Wales', in which they also highlight that micro firms are also more likely, by 53 per cent, to be using and paying the real living wage than firms employing more than 10 people. So, there is a good picture; it's a complex picture, but there is a good picture in the foundational sector.

So, a policy focus on the foundational economy that the Cabinet Secretary now enthusiastically espouses gives the Welsh Government those levers in the areas that they've chosen as sectors—that's care, food, retail and tourism. Their significance as providers and employers means that the Welsh Government can gain leverage on economic and social outcomes in those foundational sectors. Specifically, CRESC suggest that the Welsh Government should break with the idea of creating a generic business environment with non-standard policies that are adapted to sectoral characteristics and specific business requirements, recognising the complexity of the foundational sector, and even those four sectors that the Government have chosen—recognising the complexity and using what governmental power there is to leverage in influence in those sectors. 

In food, for example, this might involve negotiating with suppliers on formal commitments on sourcing, training and living wages. CRESC argue that the Government should encourage responsible business by promoting continuity of ownership for SMEs. One of the problems is that when our SMEs get to a level of success they're then bought by other organisations that may not have the same altruistic motives with regard to their human resource practices. So, public procurement can also play an important part, where Welsh Government uses its procurement powers to boost the foundational economy by requiring contractors and suppliers to pay the living wage.

We can create a policy environment that supports the foundational economy and locally based SMEs and then embed within that a culture of paying the living wage in those companies. It has the potential to be hugely beneficial to SMEs if you pay the living wage, as has already been outlined—the benefits to an organisation of doing so—and we can create that right policy environment. There is an example that we've talked about before, in Preston, with the anchor organisation, but also talking about the supply webs that exist across the northern Valleys, enabling those to grow, expand, and then eventually pay the real living wage in those organisations.